On $13b maybe not... but...

Airlines say their profits come from First and business class passengers, based on that, a few thousand passengers of the status of the OP make for $100m in 'profits'.

I was speaking to a gate agent about 15 years ago when my mother boarded the late evening QF service from MEL-PER (back in the days when there were only three non-stops a day!!) and I commented on the load that evening - 16 in business class and 20 in economy for a 737. He said 'the business class passengers have made this flight profitable'.

The OP received some good advice - in future, put the same itinerary in the same PNR. Problem solved, interlining solved.

What I like about FT is what we can all learn - and if you're paying full fare F it certainly makes sense not to have separate tickets where possible.

I do agree with you. I don't think an airline that relies on F/J pax to provide the majority of its passenger profits should be alienating those that buy a lot of F/J tickets

I have interlined bags on separate tickets on other airlines many times with no problem: VS to BA, SQ to MIAT LH to IB and EK to UA and never had to pick up my bags to recheck them. I think QF is going down stream with customer service. It is a hassle to slep bags from domestic to internatinal.
GAIA is right to be disappointed QF is QF regardless of ticketing.. SYD is a poor transit hub for QF domestic to International.

HOWEVER: IN SFO everyone must recheck bags before going from international to domestic.

I would think a 60K passenger even in 13 Billion is significant for example Qantas would only require 216,000 passengers a year to pay that much in travel to reach the same revenue figure roughly, hoping my maths is correct here

And I would be interested to know how many 60K dollar spend their are flying Qantas as I would think going the extra mile to gain and retain a few customers like this would be very valuable yes the rule says this but from a commercial point of view that rule is in place for someone who buys the the $60 dollar fare to connect to Delta.

I Would also guess if you spend 60K a year on Qantas you probably have friends/colleagues that do the same level of travel and this is an easy way for Qantas to at the very least lose what was strong level of loyalty, so you may not pay that extra $1000 in the future just to fly Qantas to get those status credits, which personally I think is great as choice is a wonderful things

OK, after reading this thread I am lost here.

1. As they are full fare tickets, cancel the QF segments and have TG book the QF segments on the same PNR. I am sure that TG would be happy to book a full fare QF ticket on TG paper.
2. It is fairly easy for a travel agent to add the QF segments as passive segments on the TG PNR which should also solve the issue.

That said, I believe that it is wrong to state that 'most' or 'many' airlines do not interline even on separate tickets, as I think you will find that most actually do, but a small and vocal number do not (BA, QF, NZ). SK even reversed its policy and now actively advertises that it will interline with any airline it as an interline agreement with (i.e. most IATA).

Where things become unstuck is that you may have your bags checked through but if you miss a flight on separate tickets (even one PNR) then the airlines will show you little mercy. As the contract is only to send you from A-B not A-B-C.

In any US or Australian airport, everyone must recheck bags before going from international to domestic. And at US airports this applies when transferring from one international flight to another international flight as well.

No it wouldn't. An information segment would make no difference , they would still be separately ticketed itineraries

hindsight is great.

the OP can't rebook his flights as they have already been taken.

the OP is complaining that he couldn't interline on the day.

perhaps there could have been an exercise of discretion by the check-in agent with 'Mr Gaia - the rules have changed, in fu\ture 2 separate tickets outside oneworld = no interline... and while today we will accommodate you in recognition of your status with us... we won't do this favour foor you again!'

that would have solved problem on the spot and kept 60k plus a year pax with QF.

The OP would probably do the same again next time and complain saying "you did this for me last time so I know you can do it if you want to".

I wonder if the QF check in agents can see a customers CIV score or whatever it is called, the calculation of how valuable they are to the airline. If not, then how are they to know how much he spends with them, apart from being Plat like plenty of other people.

Indeed.

If QF wants to they could offer this as a benefit to Platinum One tier for example; having agents looking and making decisions on whether to allow or disallow leads back to the "but they did it last time"

Dave

they could, or they might just be grateful for the customer service.

by your argument you would have everyone here writing to Qantas to demand requalification at current status even if they didn't get sufficient status credits? (b/c QF 'did it last time')

Just because QF does something once doesn't mean we aren't adult enough to recognise that.

Different situation, but I might have to fly QF CBR-SYD on a Crash8, and I will need to check my normal carry-on bag until SYD, where I continue on an Int'l QF connection on the same PNR. If I want to have my carry-on along with me on the long flight, I have to go landside to pick it up, right? Can I go back airside to transfer to Int'l, or do I have to take the landside bus? That would slow things down considerably...

You will be fine.

After you collect your cabin bag (arrivals, landside) you can head back into the DOM terminal (clear security first) and then over to the transfer bus point for the ride

The reason QF can and does do this is purely a function of its market monopoly and the ability to apply a "third line forcing" practice that is ably assisted by MIG. QF has an extensive domestic network and the lion's share of business and leisure customers needing to connect. There are really only two truly international gateways in Australia which means someone flying internationally with a domestic transfer gets herded into where QF wants them. Want the convenience of interlining your baggage, sure these are the carriers we will do it for and for this price.

The practice of collecting baggage upon arrival is a function of customs and airport. I must admit the Sydney process is a lot better than ATL which requires you to exit and re-enter the same terminal!